The Patient's Question: I need help with my eyes and my clown lines but my jowls are what's bothering me most.
Before (left) and after (right) hypothetical treatment. Courtesy Photo
Dr. Freund's Answer: Thank you for the submission. Your concerns are common among women in their late 40s, early 50s. Your upper eyes grow heavy and tired-looking from excess upper eyelid skin and sagging of the forehead. The lower lids appear tired-looking from the excess bags of fat under the eyes, as well as the hollowness below the bags that is the result of sagging of the cheek. When the cheek fat sags, it lands on the outside of the smile lines (nasolabial folds) and on the jawline as jowls.
The key to good, subtle eyelid rejuvenation is moderation. More than any other area of the face, the eyes can be permanently disfigured if too much tissue is removed. Removing too much upper eyelid skin can also make closing your eyes difficult; removing too much lower eyelid skin can give you that bloodhound look. My suggestion is for you to have an upper and lower eyelid blepharoplasty. Typically these procedures together range from $4,000 to $7,000.
As for your jowls, I'd recommend a vertical facelift to put the sagging cheek tissue back where it came from. You show a good deal of sagging tissue for a relatively young person, but vertically lifting the tissues will help to restore the cheeks, nasolabial folds, and jawline. The cost for this procedure is about $8,000.
The downtime for these procedures is 10 days to 3 weeks.
Respectfully submitted,
Robert Freund, MD, FACS
The health or medical information in this article is for informational purposes only and is not intended to be used as a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Please consult your doctor or a qualified healthcare provider with any questions.